Running Bear's April 2020 Coffee Shop


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Guy, I just post them as I find them. Many of the photos I find trickle in from Facebook. Why would anyone become infatuated with a button?

Garry, thank you for your kind words. I miss those days when many people dressed nice. I remember even at Baltimore Colts games many people would be wearing ties, hats and nice long jackets. Now football games have more clowns in attendance than respectable people. I think the trend began in the late 60s & 70s and has only been getting worse.

ShermanHill, thank you.

Mike, I have no idea what "Unca" means. :) Beating someone down settles nothing and only proves I can beat you down. That only makes me look stupid. Bullying is never the answer.
 
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Paul: I recall when E&C Shops were treated as top shelf kits, by the reviewers. I experienced all the shortcomings you described, buy the implication was that it wasn't the kit, but the modeler. I have a couple in the "to build" stack. Well, the were better detailed than the Athearn BB cars.

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Good morning, All.
It's sunny at the moment but the western horizon is looking pretty black.

Boris, Well, there wasn't a whole lot going on in the early 1990s and they weren't bad kits with a little extra work. Not nearly as good as high end stuff now but much more affordable, 5 coal porters then to 1 Tangent 4750 now. I looked, I have nearly 50 of their cars.

Louis, I'm sorry for your family's loss.

Willie, it's hard to go wrong with red and silver. I built an ABB set from the old RailPower shells just because I saw them once on Mullan Pass in Montana. I hope Athearn made them even better.

Guy, that's the biggest pile of nails I've ever seen! At about 3200 ties per mile, 4 spikes per tie, that will fill the train room. For the stumps, I would recommend fire or dynamite or a Cat 390, depends how gone you want it.
 
Good afternoon, everyone. 66 and cloudy out there. Virus-free still. Hope you all are doing well.

I have been away from the forum for a while, bummed out and working hard from home. Missouri is getting set to do a phased reopening next Monday, but since my wife and I are both considered "at-risk" we'll have to continue working from home for a couple more weeks.

Unfortunately I have a GOOD NEWS - BAD NEWS situation to tell you about:

GOOD NEWS - my wife and I are getting closer to pulling the trigger on our retirement. One of the steps on the way to retiring is selling this house so we can buy in another location (not sure where yet, but we're narrowing it down).

BAD NEWS - One of the things we have to do to sell this place is make some major repairs and updates in the basement, exactly in the room where my train layout is set up. Which obviously means taking my layout apart.

GOOD NEWS: I could build a temporary and smaller layout in another room in the basement.

BAD NEWS: But I would eventually have to take that one apart, too, so not sure if I want to do that.

GOOD NEWS: Eventually when we get moved I'll build a new layout.

BAD - - - nah, let's end it with GOOD NEWS.

So I guess I will drop off the forum for a while. I won't have any photos to post, except of me taking my layout apart and crying 😭. I may lurk for a while and jump in if there's something I think I could contribute to.

Don't know when I'll be back on regularly - hope it will be soon. I've enjoyed meeting a couple of you (Garry and Shelly, Willie); Chet contributed a couple of things to my layout - thank you, Chet. And, of course, I've learned so much about layout construction and other aspects of the hobby from the dialogue and photos that you have posted.

Stay safe, stay well - God bless.
JohnnyRaincoat
 
Paul, Thank you.

Johnny, I have not had a much in the way of a layout for over two years since I moved and I did not have much more than track and trains before I moved, but I still enjoyed the forum. I hope you do stick around. I wish you all the best.
 
Afternoon All,

Did some chores first thing, then spent several hours finishing the 2 coal chutes. After lunch I glued them in place and put in windows and doors into the headhouse walls then put the walls together. I ordered some HOn2 track for the mine cars.

Paul- Nice bridge photo.

James- Nice looking cars.

Mikey- Nice modeling on those vehicles.

Karl- Beautiful job on the locos.

Alan- More awesome decaling. It looks top notch.

Joe- Nice picture.

Willie- Nice looking motive power and scenes.

Louis- Sorry for your loss. Although you didn't know him well he was still family.

Johnny- I definitely feel your pain with the layout. It does give you a chance to go in a new direction if you wanted to. Don't be a stranger.

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I hope everyone has a good night.
 
BAD NEWS: But I would eventually have to take that one apart, too, so not sure if I want to do that.

Johnny:
Sounds like me, 12 years ago. What I learned is that if the economy sucks, there are no buyers at any reasonable price. Realtor's will tell you anything, to get a listing, and One shouldn't put the cart before the horse. We have suddenly been thrust into a sucky uncertain economy. Life has a way of altering plans.

Most of us, have collected entirely too much clutter, and have it jammed anywhere that there is space to hold it. Your model railroad, does not have to be the first thing to go. You can also assemble a few modules, that will keep you occupied once the model railroad joins the other clutter in the dumpster.

Most of all, you don't have to give up your participation in the forum. having a railroad, is not a requirement. Also, you have options.

In any event, good luck with your plans.

Louis: Condolences on your family's loss.

Guy:
Thanks for the remarks about the photos I upload. As I mentioned before, I am not generally the photographer. I just mine photos posted for public consumption and re-post them. I seek out photos that co-incide with places I worked at while I worked in the railroad industry (and occasionally the fire service).

Boris, Well, there wasn't a whole lot going on in the early 1990s and they weren't bad kits with a little extra work. Not nearly as good as high end stuff now but much more affordable, 5 coal porters then to 1 Tangent 4750 now. I looked, I have nearly 50 of their cars.

Paul: Agree. They were different enough from what was generally available prior to their introduction, and as long as one made the tweaks they were fine. I have one or two in the group of cars I rotate on and off of my layout.

Willie: There are days when I just want to run trains, and watch them run. That's when I miss the continuous running option.

Curt: The mine structure looks good.

The latest numbers are out, we are up to 478 cases, (+ 4). The Governor has described "his" plan for opening the state up. Hope springs eternal.
 
Taking a short break to put the Prime Rib into the oven. Remember that this is National Prime Rib Day.
Just got back from purchasing gas for the tractor/mower, it is up to $1.09/gal. Highway robbery!
Louis - Condolences for the loss of Uncle Charlie.
Johnny - Echoing others, there's no reason to leave just because you're not actively modeling. There's several non-active modelers who are regularly here in the Coffee Shop. Posting pictures isn't a requirement either. You could also build some modules that could be incorporated into a larger layout later on. The world isn't ending, yet!

That commentmaster thread didn't last long before he went into exile!:p
OK, time to head for the train shed for the afternoon session.
See you later
 
GOOD NEWS - my wife and I are getting closer to pulling the trigger on our retirement. One of the steps on the way to retiring is selling this house so we can buy in another location (not sure where yet, but we're narrowing it down).

BAD NEWS - One of the things we have to do to sell this place is make some major repairs and updates in the basement, exactly in the room where my train layout is set up. Which obviously means taking my layout apart.

GOOD NEWS: I could build a temporary and smaller layout in another room in the basement.

BAD NEWS: But I would eventually have to take that one apart, too, so not sure if I want to do that.

GOOD NEWS: Eventually when we get moved I'll build a new layout.

BAD - - - nah, let's end it with GOOD NEWS.

So I guess I will drop off the forum for a while. I won't have any photos to post, except of me taking my layout apart and crying 😭. I may lurk for a while and jump in if there's something I think I could contribute to.
Pardon my editing :) You don't need to drop off the forum, just stop by and shoot the breeze. Also, don't build another layout. When you list the house the first thing a realtor will do is tell you to take it down. Guess how I know! Until you're ready you can always build models! Good luck on your retirement. I have three years to go unless this pandemic thing causes me to pull the trigger sooner.
 
Good afternoon America, how are ya? Woke up to 45 degrees and thick fog. Didn't take long to burn off and the temp went up to about 67 under sunny skies. Made a new lid for our garbage can out of a piece of 1/2" plywood that the previous owners left in the storage shed. We had a bad storm with 95 MPH straight line winds about a month ago and we found our garbage can about a quarter mile down the road. Only problem was, the hinge was broken on one side and a strong wind could flip it open and the lid would come off. Well, that's what happened yesterday. Found it out in the road in front of our house.................after it had been run over and broken into three pieces. So, I got creative and made a new lid and used a scrap of 12 gauge electrical wire I had in my electrical tool box to make the hinges out of. Didn't turn out half bad, even if I do say so myself! :D

Nice photos from everyone, along with some great modeling!

Johnny, you do NOT need to leave for the stated reasons! Just because you don't have a layout means absolutely nothing! I haven't had an operating layout since 1989, when we moved back to Illinois from Arizona. I didn't get back into the hobby until after I joined here in 2011. After being on here, I had the fever again and have been buying stuff ever since, in anticipation of my retirement. I had just started putting together a mobile switching layout when we moved to Tennessee. Then the excrement hit the fan and we've pretty much been barricaded in our house with the exception of the trip I made to take our daughter back to Illinois after she helped with our move. That means no material for benchwork, I don't have my paint booth or air compressor for my airbrush, and on and on. I know, I could order some stuff from a lumber yard and have it delivered (probably what will happen) but I need to placate the wife! And order some more stuff online. That would really be sticking my neck out with the wife! :p Guess what I'm trying to say is..............DON'T LEAVE!😃

Louis-Sorry to hear about your uncle.

Willie-What time is supper?

Curt-Nice work on the tipple!

Karl and Alan-Great paint jobs!

See y'al later. Starting to talk like the locals!
 
So I guess I will drop off the forum for a while. I won't have any photos to post, except of me taking my layout apart and crying 😭. I may lurk for a while and jump in if there's something I think I could contribute to.

Don't know when I'll be back on regularly - hope it will be soon. I've enjoyed meeting a couple of you (Garry and Shelly, Willie); Chet contributed a couple of things to my layout - thank you, Chet. And, of course, I've learned so much about layout construction and other aspects of the hobby from the dialogue and photos that you have posted.

Stay safe, stay well - God bless.
JohnnyRaincoat

You don't have to have layout photos to visit the forum. You can stop by, see what's going on, make some comments. There's still lots to talk about.

As far as the layout goes? I have a possible solution. Since you know, from the start, that it has to be dis-assembled some day, build it with that in mind. You can simply build modules in convenient lengths to be handled, say 4' long by 30" wide for example.

Years ago, when I lived in an apartment, I had an 8 foot long module that plugged into the club layout. When it was at home, I had two 2' x 4' end sections and a 12 inch wide board across the back of it. Made a big oval that looked like I'd copied the plans for a slot car track, but it was a place to run trains and work on the module. When it came time move, less than an hour and it was all unbolted and ready to go. The wires were all done with connectors, joints designed for a break point. No damage to all, and I would routinely pull out the module and take it to train meets.

The only bad thing about it was that it was 8 feet long and thus needed a pickup to haul. I might go for 2 four foot sections if I was building it today. Then again, you're not looking to take it to shows, so having it be 8 feet isn't a huge problem.

There's even a new fad for "T-Trak modules." They're small squares that are designed to be assembled into layouts. Easy to build, easy to transport and easy to assemble.

 
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Most of all, you don't have to give up your participation in the forum. having a railroad, is not a requirement. Also, you have options.

He's right you know... I checked with the guy who runs the place. He said he doesn't ask for any proof you have a layout. In fact, he doesn't even ask for proof you own any trains. He said "If you've got an interest in model railroads, you're welcome here!"

So there you have it. If the guy in my mirror says it's OK, you're good to stay!
 
Well the clear/flat is curing on the first two cars. I prefer a satin finish on these. I've had a comment or two on how long they are. They're 85 footers, pretty typical for a passenger car. The next pair is actually one car, the articulated Kitchen/Coffee Shop and Diner. There's another articulated car in the train as well, an articulated sleeper. I'm kind of going in order here, from front to back.

Ft. Mason - St. Francis Woods.JPG


I also finished up a SP baggage car that was in the "almost done as soon as I get a round to it" pile

SP LW Baggage.JPG
 
I'm trying to recall, one of the famous model railroader that is often featured in magazines has built a new layout and it's all sectional. Instead of being a huge free flowing basement filler, it's laid out in neat rows, in a back and forth design. Totally built, from the ground up, to be dis-assembled and moved if needed.

Anyone recall who that was and what the layout is?
 
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